route around atlanta

johnm7422 wrote:
leaving from hickory nc to tucson az via I20. would like to pickup I20 on the other side of atlanta. Should hit atlanta around 1 or 2 pm coming from intstate 85 south from nc. I was thinging of the 285 bypass, to I20. thanks

I agree you can either take I-285 south to I-20 and then head straight through Atlanta, or take I-285 west around the top and pick I-20 on the west side. The truck route, for what it's worth, is the latter and that would be my first choice. Neither way will be particularly pleasant: drivers on I-285 somehow manage to be both incompetent and mean as snakes. However, the same drivers also populate I-85 to the Connector through downtown Atlanta, where (as noted) the lanes are narrower and traffic patterns very much like the Fifth Circle of hell. Whichever way you go, find a happy place, pay no attention to those people who seem to be exercising a particular finger, and remember it'll all be over soon.